Eszter Balint (born 7 July 1966) is a Hungarian-American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, songwriter, violinist, and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Biography

Eszter Balint was born in

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

, to Marianne Kollar and Stephan Balint. She was living with the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

Squat Theatre Squat Theatre (1977–1991) was a Hungarian theatre company from Budapest which left Hungary for Paris and then New York City, where they performed experimental theatre. History Living in Paris in 1977, a friend of the company, Tamas Szentjoby, s ...

troupe in New York City, founded by her father when she first met

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved fame as part of the graffiti duo SAMO, alongside Al ...

. They became involved while he was filming ''

Downtown 81 ''Downtown 81'' is a 2000 American film that was shot in 1980-1981. The film was directed by Edo Bertoglio and written and produced by Glenn O'Brien and Patrick Montgomery, with post-production in 1999-2000 by Glenn O'Brien and Maripol. It is a r ...

''. In 1983, Balint was brought into the studio by Basquiat to play violin on the influential hip-hop record "Beat Bop" by

Rammellzee Rammellzee (stylized RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ, pronounced "Ram: Ell: Zee"; December 15, 1960 – June 28, 2010) was a visual artist, gothic futurist "graffiti writer", painter, performance artist, art theoretician, sculptor and a hip hop musician from Ne ...

and

K-Rob Malik Johnson, better known as K-Rob, is an American rapper most famous for providing vocals for "Beat Bop" with Rammellzee Rammellzee (stylized RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ, pronounced "Ram: Ell: Zee"; December 15, 1960 – June 28, 2010) was a visual art ...

. Balint made her cinematic debut in 1984 in

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

's independent film ''

Stranger Than Paradise ''Stranger Than Paradise'' is a 1984 American black-and-white absurdist deadpan comedy film, co-written, directed and co-edited by Jim Jarmusch, and starring jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and ...

''. In 1985. she made her TV debut in ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'' as Dorothy Bain in the episode "Buddies". She appeared in the 1990 film ''Bail Jumper''. Roles in ''

The Linguini Incident ''The Linguini Incident'' (also released on home video as ''Houdini and Company'', ''The Robbery'', ''Shag-O-Rama'') is a 1991 American cult crime comedy film set in New York starring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette. The film was directed by R ...

'' (1991),

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's ''

Shadows and Fog ''Shadows and Fog'' is a 1991 American black-and-white comedy film directed by Woody Allen and based on his one-act play ''Death'' (1975). It stars Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, Kathy Bates, David Ogden Stiers, Jodie Foster, Lily Tomlin, Jo ...

'' (1991) and

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

's ''

Trees Lounge ''Trees Lounge'' is a 1996 American dramedy film and the debut of Steve Buscemi as writer and director. It was produced by Brad Wyman and Chris Hanley and features a large ensemble cast of actors, including Buscemi, Anthony LaPaglia, Chloë Sevi ...

'' (1996) followed. Balint's albums, ''Flicker'' (1998) and ''Mud'' (2004), both produced by

JD Foster JD Foster is an American record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter. He is known for working with country and Americana performers including Dwight Yoakam and Patty Griffin. Producer, performer and recording art ...

, were praised by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', and

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

. In his review of ''Mud'',

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.Michael Gira's ''Angels of Light'', Marc Ribot's ''Los Cubanos Postizos'' and John Lurie's Marvin Pontiac's ''Greatest Hits'', Dayna Kurtz, and the Swans. She was a featured guest member of Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog touring Europe throughout 2009 and is featured on their 2013 release "Your Turn." In 2014, Balint appeared as Amia, a violin-playing Hungarian love interest for Louis C.K. on the latter's FX sitcom, ''

Louie Louie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Louie'' (American TV series), by comedian Louis C.K. * ''Louie'' (French TV series), animated series about a young rabbit who draws pictures which come to life * "Louie" (song), by Blood Raw * ''L ...

.'' In 2015, Balint released her third album ''Airless Midnight'', produced by

. That same year, '' Paste'' magazine premiered Balint's first official music video, "Trouble You Don't See." Josh Jackson wrote: "Paste named Eszter Balint an artist to watch back in 2004 after she released her second album ''Mud''. And while she stepped back from music to focus on parenting soon after, she’s delivered on that promise with this year’s long-awaited follow-up ''Airless Midnigh''t, which comes on the heels of a recurring role as a Louis C.K.’s love interest in the most recent season of Louie." Balint played Fern in the 2019 film '' The Dead Don't Die''.Grierson, T. (2019, May 15). 'The Dead Don't Die': Cannes Review. Retrieved June 1, 2019, from https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-dead-dont-die-cannes-review/5139365.article

References

External links

* *
Official website
interview + profile *Chicago Tribune'
WGN radio interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balint, Eszter Hungarian emigrants to the United States American film actresses American women singers 1966 births Living people Actresses from Budapest Musicians from Budapest 21st-century American women